Switched On: Get the show on the road

Ross Rubin at NPD Group writes his regular "Switched On" column at Engadget about portable video. Based on Olympus' disastrous experience with the m:Robe 500, "an attractive hard disk-based digital music and photo display device," Rubin points out the "dilemma common to many products in this emerging category. Go too small and you have an unsatisfying visual experience. Design a player too large and you lose portability."

Rubin gives as example that currently the "most successful digital portable video player to date has been Apple's iPod with video, which serves as evidence that Apple was unwilling to compromise the device's appealing size for a very large screen." He thinks the industry should "forget the jogger; the driver is a better target for portable video."

Rubin believes the portable GPS market might be right for this markets as it "has also been adding functionality while shrinking size and prices." This in turn is blurring the "traditional boundaries between automotive and personal navigation products" and attracting "domestic interest from Sony, JVC, and other consumer electronics companies." Rubin cites the Garmin nuvi as one example of the convergence taking place in the market. He writes:

This popular, sleek navigation product includes a photo viewer and MP3 and Audible audiobook support as well as some travel-friendly features such as a world travel clock and currency and measurement converters. The nuvi is pricey, but other newcomers to the market like Korea's FineDigital are also embracing the slim portable GPS form factor.

While the nuvi 300's screen isn't large compared to other GPS devices and lacks the hard disk of competitors from Magellan and Lowrence, its screen is larger than that of the video iPod's and has the same resolution. What would be unthinkable for hanging around your neck while jogging is a better form factor for watching videos or looking at navigation maps, but manufacturers might struggle in marketing a product that has two distinct usage scenarios: in the car and outside of it.

Rubin concludes that:

On the surface, combining video and GPS may seem like creating a Frankendevice. The last thing anyone wants to encourage is distracted driving, but some simple electronics could prevent video on the main screen while attached to a suction mount. Besides, several of today's DVD-based in-dash GPS systems such as those from Pioneer already support DVD video for delivery to passengers' screens. As shrinking storage prices make such products more practical, portable GPS systems may do the same using high-speed wireless technologies such as ultra wideband.

The Garmin nuvi is a cool device, and it'll be interesting to see if it can be positioned successfully as a multi-functional device beyond just GPS navigation. The key challenge will be that Garmin has little experience catering to the mainstream consumer audience. Of course, sometimes that doesn't mean much with Sony's poor efforts with portable media devices as a prime example...